Ministering in a digital age...
Yesterday I went to my monthly pastor's gathering, and one of them mentioned an article towards the end of the meeting that got my mind racing. The article mentions the established leadership in churches today being "analog in a digital age." If that doesn't make sense, what the author is suggesting is that churches are geared towards reaching people of a bygone era - "analog" people. This was fine in the "analog" era, but we're in a "digital" era now.
The pastor also mentioned something Leonard Sweet spoke about at the American Baptist Biennial Conference this past summer in Pasadena. Sweet described a conversation he had with his son as he was telling his son that he had to go to church to experience community. His son responded, knowing that church "community" was sitting in a pew, around a lot of strangers, silently listening as the pastor spoke. He then said, "I could sit at home, join a chat room, and experience community around my friends from around the world that I might never even meet!"
Listening to that story, I was reminded of a book I skimmed through recently, "The Lonely American." The book was written by several pychologists whose premise was that this new culture that we're in now, while changing the definition of terms we thought we had understood such as "community" and "friends," has led to a epidemic rise of loneliness. One interesting note they brought up was how it is more culturally accepted now to be diagnosed as having depression, while many of those diagnosed as depressed are actually just lonely.
The point seems to be that though we may be living in a digital age, there are some essential "human" interactions that we need. Chatting with someone online will never fully replace speaking to someone face to face, in the same way that the Wii Fit could never fully replace getting outside and exercising.
The implication I gained from this is that though there are significant elements of living in the digital age that church leaders will need to accept and address, there are some significant foundational aspects of human interaction that the church needs to highlight.
What changes do you think need to be made? The one obvious thing that jumps out to me is that "church" as we know it is structured to be a performance rather than an interaction. The fact that Leonard Sweet's son (correctly) noted that he would experience a greater sense of community in an online chat room rather than at church is not a condemnation of the times we live in now. It's an assessment that church leaders need to consider seriously. It's not a good thing, and the solution isn't to give up on church, but possibly reconsider aspects of church to incorporate, or to not take for granted, the inherent community that church establishes.
How can we accomplish this? What are your thoughts?
The pastor also mentioned something Leonard Sweet spoke about at the American Baptist Biennial Conference this past summer in Pasadena. Sweet described a conversation he had with his son as he was telling his son that he had to go to church to experience community. His son responded, knowing that church "community" was sitting in a pew, around a lot of strangers, silently listening as the pastor spoke. He then said, "I could sit at home, join a chat room, and experience community around my friends from around the world that I might never even meet!"
Listening to that story, I was reminded of a book I skimmed through recently, "The Lonely American." The book was written by several pychologists whose premise was that this new culture that we're in now, while changing the definition of terms we thought we had understood such as "community" and "friends," has led to a epidemic rise of loneliness. One interesting note they brought up was how it is more culturally accepted now to be diagnosed as having depression, while many of those diagnosed as depressed are actually just lonely.
The point seems to be that though we may be living in a digital age, there are some essential "human" interactions that we need. Chatting with someone online will never fully replace speaking to someone face to face, in the same way that the Wii Fit could never fully replace getting outside and exercising.
The implication I gained from this is that though there are significant elements of living in the digital age that church leaders will need to accept and address, there are some significant foundational aspects of human interaction that the church needs to highlight.
What changes do you think need to be made? The one obvious thing that jumps out to me is that "church" as we know it is structured to be a performance rather than an interaction. The fact that Leonard Sweet's son (correctly) noted that he would experience a greater sense of community in an online chat room rather than at church is not a condemnation of the times we live in now. It's an assessment that church leaders need to consider seriously. It's not a good thing, and the solution isn't to give up on church, but possibly reconsider aspects of church to incorporate, or to not take for granted, the inherent community that church establishes.
How can we accomplish this? What are your thoughts?
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